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I last saw my father, <em>James T. McClellan</em>, just after my third birthday, in the spring of 1941. He was holding me in his arms on board the evacuation ship that was to bring my mother and me back to the States from the Philippines. I remember daddy’s hug, the cigar in his hand, and its smell. That is all I remember. What appears below comes from many people—his wife, his mother, his sisters, and especially his classmates, Colonel Parks Houser and Walter Krueger, Jr., all who shared with me their memories of my father.</p>
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He grew up in the small southern town of Flora, Mississippi. His was a large, loving family. They were all very close. He grew up hunting and fishing, as seems to be the born right of every southern boy. His family was proud of his leadership in all things boys do: basketball, baseball, football, even the fighting that high young spirits engender.</p>
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This was “Mac’s” heritage and life up until the time he walked through the sallyport into the area of South Barracks on 1 July 1927. By then, he was ready and eager for that next phase. Mac’s cadet life was marked by his honesty, his friendliness, his easygoing attitude, his love of sports, and his consideration of others. That’s all I am told about Mac, the cadet, my father. I am proud of it all.</p>
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Upon graduation, although assigned to the Infantry, he, along with more than a hundred others, was detailed to the Air Corps. Flying turned out not to be his cup of tea, so he was returned to his basic branch in February 1932, and was assigned to the 9th Infantry, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Here, as a company officer, he began a solid foundation of troop duty experience. In 1934, he went to Fort Benning for the Infantry Officers Basic Course. Then, a few days before Christmas 1934, Mac was assigned to Fort Clayton, Panama Canal Zone where he took command of E Company, 33rd Infantry.</p>
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There soon began in the 2nd Battalion a very serious competition among the four company commanders—all class of 1931. There was only one winner. Mac’s company was always outstanding in its endeavors. For the longest time, his classmate-competitor company commanders in the battalion could not understand how his company seemed to consistently win all of the athletic trophies.</p>
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Finally, they learned—too late—that he always sent his first sergeant to the Atlantic side to meet every incoming troop transport. By the time those ships finished transiting the canal, every good athlete on board, and every man with even slightly better than average athletic skills, had been persuaded to request assignment to E Company! On 1 December 1935 came Mac’s first promotion, to first lieutenant. There followed on 11 June 1941, his first AUS promotion to captain, and then on 19 December 1941, to major.</p>
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From the Canal Zone, he was assigned in December 1936 to Fort Williams, Maine. It was here that he met and married Evelyn Brown. I was their only child and was born at Fort Benning, Georgia where my father was a student at the Infantry School. He graduated in June 1938 and we moved to Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. Here, his last service in God’s Country saw Mac assigned to the 11th Infantry from July 1938 to May 1940, with his second company command.</p>
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In July 1940 we arrived in the Philippines. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 45th Infantry, a Philippine Scout unit, Pettit Barracks, Zamboanga. This battalion had the only Moro company in the Scouts. The Philippine division, consisting predominantly of Scout troops, constantly distinguished itself during the intense fighting in the defense of the islands against the Japanese. The first recipient of the Medal of Honor in the Philippines was a Scout sergeant. Mac was justly proud to be a member of the 45th Infantry. On 9 May 1941, he was assigned to the G-4 division, Headquarters, Philippine Department.</p>
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He was captured in Zamboanga and moved to Luzon, where he was placed on board a Japanese prison ship bound for Japan. Our navy bombers stopped the voyage of this unmarked vessel before it got very far. Mac was instrumental in organizing the American servicemen as they went overboard in Subic Bay. While on deck busy with this rescue work, Mac was horrified to see his close friend, Dale Kinnee ‘29, shot dead in the water by the Japanese. Shaking himself momentarily free of this terrible experience, he finished helping the Americans abandon ship, then made it ashore himself. Some time later, the dates are uncertain, he once again was placed on a Japanese prison ship bound for Japan. This time, the rigors of being a prisoner under inhuman conditions overcame my father; he died of starvation in late January 1945 aboard ship somewhere in the straits of Formosa. His body was committed to the sea by his comrades.</p>
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My father saw his friends die under unbelievable circumstances, and died thus himself. From what I have learned of him, I know he would have blessed his comrades for the sorrow they must have felt in seeing him, and so many others, succumb at sea as they did.</p>
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His daughter, <em>Nancy McClellan Sewall</em></p>
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